Sometimes, the French scene presents the listener with quite some jewels. Alongside SUBLIME CADAVERIC DECOMPOSITION, French independent INHUMATE are like icons of the UG Grind scene. Never yielding to labels’ pressure and/or demands, the band created their own Grind Your Soul thing, a platform simultaneously used as label and distro, through which they have released most of their (extensive) discography. Independence does not leave quality out, for these blokes do not seem to lack professionalism. A situation which is further enhanced by the fact that he line-up has been stable for the past 10 years.

Now to Life, the first real contact I have had with INHUMATE (at long last). It took three or four years for the band to release something ‘new’ since the Growth album – in the meantime, they have been rather busy playing tens of shows all around Europe and releasing numerous split tapes, split EPs, compilations, etc. Back in 1996, INHUMATE set themselves for the development of a conceptual series of albums – an heptalogy based on the concept of Life and the Abolition of Time (how is that for a change?…). It all started in ’97 under the moniker Internal Life. This first part deals with a preoccupation with presenting an illustration of the antenatal life. Ex-Pulsion represents the moment of the birth, whereas Growth does not need much explanation. The present album Life is the middle album and attempts at portraying the maturity of a life form (perhaps of INHUMATE too). The future albums are the development of the heptalogy and should be titled The Fifth Season, Expulsed and External Life. According to the band, this last step ends life on Earth of all men and opens Mankind to infinity. Does it mean it will bring INHUMATE to an end too? We hope not.

I have been hearing all these good things about INHUMATE for the past years, but now I see they were founded. These French goresters appear to have developed their music to a different level – most songs are actually quite enticing, With many movement-impelling rhythms, grinding guitars and the occasional blast drums. And what is the more, the recording is not the kind of Underground thing which does not allow one to understand the instruments separately. Life was recorded, mixed & mastered at Down Town Studio and no vocal effects were used.

Apparently, INHUMATE keep up the tradition of three-second-long tracks in I Want to Kill Some… (Part IV). Let me guess what the three previous editions of the episode sound like… Favorite tracks are For Lust, N.D.S. (brilliant!), No Answer and A Trip. But INHUMATE do break with tradition in one aspect: Life features no sample of any kind – which is a fresh breeze on the scene, huh?

The Life/ Live feeling is very much present in the booklet’s artwork, which features tons of pictures of the band live, fliers and the likes of. Those who still have not seen INHUMATE live (like myself) may be curious to see/ hear the band live on stage. INHUMATE thought about it too, and as a result they included a number of live tracks. I was not at all disappointed by the tracks, though I must admit to finding it slightly awkward to hear such a violent band speaking French at intervals, haha. Somehow it does not seem to fit. Fortunately, you don’t get to understand that the lyrics to N.D.S. are written in French. Mean me.

By A Trip, I thought these guys sounded a bit like SIX FEET UNDER, but N.D.S. brought a distinct HATE ETERNAL feel to the music. None of these bands happen to be Grind, so it is not really an indicated way to give you a general overview on the music, is it? The best solution is quite simple actually: visit the band’s website siteinhumate.com and download songs and videos – then you will get to know INHUMATE. Or buy the fucking album!

Official Site Siteinhumate.com | Myspace Inhumate

Inhumate - Blasted

// Click Here To Make a Comment

DEBODIFIED were formed by Jordan Varela (also in the ranks of LUST OF DECAY) in late 2000, alongside guitarist Chris Braunstein. The two musicians set high goals in trying to create the most intense manifestation of Death Metal possible. The debut full-length, Utopia in the Eyes of a Beast, was preceded by a successful 5-song demo which granted DEBODIFIED a deal with Comatose Music. This is the point where Jarrod Sternes joins the band to fulfill his function as a bassist.

«Intense» is a good word to describe the album (although not quite as intense as they would have it), characteristically American in nature (and for once I mean this in a positive sense): technical, brutal and grunted through and through. Drums are good, guitars are now and then hypnotizing, and the songs sound well thought-out. There are breaks, dragged rhythms of chaos, but mostly Death Metal violence. For fans of DISGORGE, IMMOLATION, DISAVOWED or DYING FETUS.

Conceptually, DEBODIFIED are heavily war-inspired, and the cover artwork (by Jon Zig) reflects the album title – my view of Utopia in the eyes of a beast can also be illustrated by the war panzers, helicopters and related warfare, dictating the onslaught and mutilated, maimed and burning human corpses. The everlasting struggle against the Human scum – innocent or not. Or maybe the Beast is none other than the very person who holds a speech at the beginning of Terminated with Prejudice – Mr Adolf “Swine” Hitler.

Recorded October 2002 at the Soundlab Studio, produced by DEBODIFIED and engineered by Joey Rhyme, Utopia… features Jay Barnes (of LUST OF DECAY) on backing vocals (Instinct for Malevolence).

But I might as well have conjugated the verbs in the Past Tense – you see, DEBODIFIED was disbanded two months after the release of Utopia in the Eyes of a Beast, due to turmoil within the band. This is the band’s legacy. And it is a killer.

Myspace Debodified

// Click Here To Make a Comment

Tchhh Nowadays Death Metal, kinda like Metalcore/Deathcore are getting pretty weird, bands are having problems keeping fresh and spend their time reworking other bands stuff, so in this context Aborted brings a new album, Aborted come from the Death Metal Grind School humm kinda like Carcass, hailing from Belgium, kinda playing a blast beat screaming brutal death metal, so what does Slaughter & Apparatus: A Methodical Overture brings to this already filled table… (oh and nice album name… funny).

Well the album starts with “The Chondrin Enigma”, and i might say it surprised me, sure it has blast beats all over the place and not overly complex but it doesn’t stay a lot on the same place so it’s got a nice flow with some flourishes and some slow downs for more breakdown kind of thing, with a smallish guitar solo, it all fits pretty well, i like it, “A Metodical Overture” works pretty well as well still a lot of blasting, but with some nice touches here and there, “Avenious” slows it down … humm to almost melodic death metal, little blasting… sounds more like just plain vanilla Death Metal hehehe, still they cut the blasting for more groove, not too bad, but could be better, “The Spaying Séance” brings blasting back, and it goes on pretty straight forward, a bit boring in some places… “And Carnage Basked in it’s Ebullience” starts slow to some… humm this one is weird, a lot of things out of place, the background sounds out of place, the times are a bit screwed and not in a good way, well no one can be perfect (at least it’s not a interlude muahahah).

“The Foul Nucleus of Resurrection” is next and … it goes back to more groove oriented music, combining pretty well smallish guitar solos with groove breakdowns and blasting, nice, “Archetype” continues the trend, in a somewhat different way, its way more just plain Death Metal but with enough blasting and shouting to not be pure, it still retains that brutal edge, again a great track, “Ingenuity in Genocide” blasts away, again with some slow downs breaks for chorus and to add diversity… keeps a good pace, again great, with a small solo added to the mix , “Odious Emanation” is better, more focused on blasting and tighter groove, pretty good and heavy, “Prolific Murder Contrivance” is blast and a bit of the same, half way through has some nice guitar work for a sort of chorus, nice, the album finishes with “Underneath Rorulent Soil”, humm kinda working “epic” tracks for last hehehe, nice work pretty technical stuff, finishes the album pretty well, and it’s probably the first track you should listen, since it sums up the album pretty well ^^

Humm, well its groovy for a death metal album, not meshuggah groovy but nevertheless it brings a bit of fresh air, and it makes it easier to listen to, some of these overly grind albums are just sooo thick that it’s hard to re-listen, i like my music with some variety, the vocals are pretty good, it’s pretty diverse technique wise, sound great, so Aborted… good job, i like it, so if your into this kind of music, you should check them out hehehe.

Official Site Goremageddon

Aborted - The Chondrin Enigma
Aborted - Avenious

// Click Here To Make a Comment